Chapter 68: Chapter 68: A Fortune in Spirit Stones
Ji Yuan has acquired quite a few magical artifacts this time, but there are not many he actually wants to sell.
A damaged middle-grade magic robe, two low-grade magic robes, and three middle-grade dharma ships.
That’s all for selling; he has kept the rest of the magical artifacts for himself.
"What do you want?"
The Water Dragon Sect cultivator on duty at Jingde Square is no different from those in Zengtou City, all with that haughty demeanor.
"Selling magical artifacts."
After Ji Yuan spoke, he took out the few magical artifacts he wanted to sell and placed them on the table.
The on-duty cultivator, who had been lazily swaying on a recliner, immediately stood up upon seeing this. He first glanced at these artifacts, especially the three dharma ships, then looked up, giving a somewhat serious glance at the disguised Ji Yuan, and remarked with a pointed smile,
"You don’t seem like it, but you’re quite the tough character."
The middle-aged-looking Ji Yuan forced a smile, "Just lucky, just lucky."
"Alright, let me appraise them, hold on."
"Thank you, senior."
Ji Yuan cupped his hands towards him.
Soon, the on-duty cultivator picked up the artifacts to carefully examine them, even refining the dharma ships slightly to check their quality.
After a little less than the time of burning a stick of incense, he gave his valuation.
"I’ll give you 125 spirit stones for the three dharma ships. The middle-grade magic robe was originally of good quality, but that stab of yours was too harsh, destroying the restrictions inside; I can only offer you 20 spirit stones for it. The remaining two low-grade magic robes are just average, I’ll give you 22 spirit stones each, making a total of 189 spirit stones, how about it?"
Ji Yuan pondered, "Why not make it a round number, give me 190 spirit stones."
Spirit stones are precious; every single one is worth saving, and getting an extra one is beneficial.
"Alright."
Perhaps because the items Ji Yuan was selling already had substantial profit margins, the on-duty cultivator agreed without much hesitation.
After selling the magical artifacts, Ji Yuan went to the adjacent room to sell talismans and elixirs.
These did not fetch much money, totaling only 45 spirit stones.
On the other hand, the Stone Armor Crab corpse, which Ji Yuan had high hopes for, did not sell for a high price, because the most suitable material for refining into a magical artifact, the intact shell, had a hole cut in it by Liu Da’s final sword strike.
According to the on-duty cultivator, if the shell had been intact, it might have sold for sixty or seventy spirit stones.
But now, it only sold for 40 spirit stones.
With this, together with what Ji Yuan originally possessed, even without selling the Cold Iron Sand, Ji Yuan’s total had reached an astounding 504 spirit stones!
It’s no wonder; he had already sold between 200 to nearly 300 here, and with over 100 from the Liu Brothers’ loot, he had also sold dozens of stones’ worth of Cold Iron Sand previously at Qingbo Pond.
Looking at the astonishing amount of spirit stones in his storage bag.
Ji Yuan contemplated for a moment... Perhaps there’s no rush to sell the Cold Iron Sand after all; with these spirit stones in hand, he has enough for a breakthrough to late-stage Qi cultivation.
If he sells the additional 41 jins of Cold Iron Sand, he would have over 1000 low-grade spirit stones, equivalent to more than ten mid-grade spirit stones.
Moreover, given the current situation at Cloud Rain Marsh, the price of Cold Iron Sand is likely to continue rising.
He could either wait for the price to rise before selling or wait until after breaking through to late-stage and needing spirit stones to upgrade his flying ship magical artifact.
After thinking it over, he specifically exchanged for four mid-grade spirit stones at the Hundred Treasures Tower.
Compared to low-grade spirit stones, the spiritual Qi quality contained in mid-grade spirit stones is noticeably higher. While not necessary for daily cultivation, using higher-quality ones might aid in a breakthrough.
However, the four mid-grade spirit stones cost Ji Yuan 408 low-grade spirit stones.
Which means each mid-grade spirit stone required 102 low-grade spirit stones to exchange.
Black.
Truly damn black.
But to break through, Ji Yuan had no other choice.
After sorting this out, he left the Hundred Treasures Tower.
Outside the door, Qiu Qianhai was already waiting.
The two walked straight to the shore; Qiu Qianhai gazed at the vast Cloud Rain Marsh and softly asked, "Next, I’m planning to find an uninhabited deserted island to break through to the sixth layer of Qi cultivation first, what about you? Are you planning to return to Zengtou City directly?"
Ji Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, his blue robe flapping loudly in the offshore breeze.
"My breakthrough to late-stage Qi cultivation might take a bit longer, and this Cloud Rain Marsh is indeed not very peaceful, so I might need someone to guard me, would you be willing?"
"Hmm?"
Initially somewhat despondent, Qiu Qianhai’s eyes suddenly lit up, "You mean?"
"We both need to make breakthroughs, and nowhere seems truly secure; instead, we might as well rent a courtyard here at Jingde Square, protect each other while we break through, and then proceed with other matters afterward."
This was something Ji Yuan had thought of on his way to Jingde Square and was indeed a relatively secure plan at the moment.
After all, whether Qiu Qianhai went to a deserted island for a breakthrough or he returned to Zengtou City, there were risks involved.
In Cloud Rain Marsh, afraid of being disturbed, he returned, worried that the Qin Family might act recklessly... But if he waited until he broke through the late stage of Qi Cultivation to go back, then there would be nothing to fear.
Even if Blind Qin were to come in person, Ji Yuan wouldn’t necessarily be afraid.
"Alright!"
Qiu Qianhai clapped lightly, "That’s a good idea, let’s go rent a courtyard first."
It’s extremely difficult to extract money from the Water Dragon Sect, but if you want to send money to them, it’s very convenient.
In less than an hour, Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai had already rented a place in Jingde Square.
The breakthrough was right in front of them.
...
Qingbo Pool.
"Are you sure Huda and the others followed?"
Qin Wei looked at the cultivator leading the way beside him and said solemnly.
"I’m sure... we all watched as those two Qin Family seniors went into the water, and later, where they went, we really don’t know."
The long-faced man spread his hands anxiously.
Qin Wei frowned tightly. After receiving the message yesterday, he had rushed over from Zengtou City, and now a whole night had passed.
Huda and the others had not sent any word.
Qin Wei guessed they had probably met trouble... Otherwise with Huda’s skills, they should have returned by now.
With this thought, Qin Wei frowned even more tightly.
He took out a portrait from his Storage Bag.
If Ji Yuan were here, he would have recognized at a glance that the person in the portrait was him, captured in that slightly disheveled state when he first arrived on Qingbo Island during the recent seismic event.
The person who drew this portrait was highly skilled, and the drawing was very vivid.
"Do you know this person?"
Though it had already been confirmed once, Qin Wei was still unwilling to give up.
"I don’t know him, I’ve never seen him, he must be someone new following Qiu Qianhai," the long-faced cultivator affirmed again.
If that’s the case, then he must be from either Zengtou City or Black Water Square... Qin Wei put away the portrait and then asked, "Where is Cold Pool Island?"
"Brother Qin, do you want to find the Qingbo Heroes?"
"Yes."
Qin Wei nodded openly. Qingbo Pool was the territory of the Liu Brothers, and since the Qin Family suffered losses here, they could probably provide some information.
"Brother Qin, you may not know, but during the recent ground movement, the Qingbo Heroes didn’t appear. Some people went to Cold Pool Island to find them but didn’t see them, and some speculate that the Liu Brothers either left Qingbo Pool or... have died."
"Oh?"
Qin Wei’s eyes widened, "Leave? Where could they go after leaving Qingbo Pool, let alone now that the price of Cold Iron Sand is rising by the day... Seems like a powerful newcomer has arrived at Qingbo Pool."
"Alright, you can go now."
Qin Wei tossed a handful of Spirit Stones into the man’s hand and then his Flying Boat broke the water and left.
This powerful newcomer to Qingbo Pool made looking for these juniors pointless, so he went straight to a secluded stone house on Qingbo Island.
Here, his previous arrogance disappeared, replaced by humility, and he even proactively bowed in greeting.
"Qin Wei of the Qin Family, paying respects to the senior."
"From Blind Qin’s family?"
"Yes, my father is Qin Long."
Qin Wei’s demeanor became even more respectful. Before departure, his father Qin Long had told him there was a disciple from the Mutual Aid Association here, and if he encountered any unsolvable problems, he could seek help here.
"Oh, what’s the matter?"
The voice from inside the stone house remained indifferent.
Qin Wei hurried to explain the situation in Qingbo Pool and also mentioned his suspicions.
"You mean to say, you suspect I killed the Liu Brothers and your Qin Family members?"
Du Wanyi’s figure suddenly appeared at the door, her cold gaze fixed on Qin Wei, and a wave of late-stage Qi Cultivation aura pressed down.
Qin Wei’s face turned pale with fright, and he quickly bowed again.
"No, no, the junior, the junior just wanted to ask the senior if you knew that person?"
In her mind, Du Wanyi recalled Ji Yuan’s handsome appearance, mocking him with her words:
"What does it matter to you whether I know him?!"
"Is it your place to question my affairs? Even your father Qin Long doesn’t dare speak to me like this."
"Get lost!"